Two More Groups of Education Support Staff Serve Strike Notice

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two more groups of education support workers have filed 72-hour strike notice, meaning four groups in total will take job action on Monday.

CUPE Local 3484, representing 570 support staff at Black Gold School Division, and CUPE Local 5040, representing 300 support staff at Foothills School Division, both served strike notice last evening. Both groups expect to begin job action on Monday morning.

CUPE Local 40 (Calgary Board of Education, 800 employees) and CUPE Local 520 (Calgary Catholic School Division, 350 employees) have already served strike notice and also expect to begin job action on Monday.

The workers join 4,000 education support workers already on strike in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Sturgeon School Division. A further 400 employees of Parkland School Division started work to rule on Tuesday.

The average school support worker in Alberta makes just $34,500. Many have gone almost a decade without a wage increase, a period of 30% inflation.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill said that striking is a final resort for education support staff, but they feel they have no other option. He said that members don’t like to leave their students, but they know doing nothing will only make a bad situation worse.

“We went too long without a meaningful wage increase, during periods of record inflation,” said Gill. “Many staff work multiple jobs and some rely upon the food bank. People who are responsible for our children’s education deserve better.”

Gill noted that Alberta has the lowest per capita education funding in Canada. He says ‘mandates’ from the province restrict the wages school divisions can offer.

“We need the province to step up and help,” said Gill. “They brought us to this point, they need to take responsibility.”

:clc/cope491